Michael Cortie

Biography

Mike Cortie is the Director of the Institute for Nanoscale Technology at the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS), in Australia. He was born and educated in South Africa and has a BSc(Eng) degree in Physical Metallurgy, a Masters degree on the corrosion of zirconium and a PhD degree, on metal fatigue and fracture mechanics. After a stint at South Africa's Atomic Energy Corporation and at Pylon Engineering, a gear-cutting and general works, Mike joined Mintek, a minerals and metals research organisation. Mike headed the Physical Metallurgy Division of Mintek between 1997 and 2002. The Division consulted widely to South African and international industry and generated the major portion of its funds from foreign contract research. He relocated to Australia and joined UTS in July 2002.

Research Interest

Michael Cortie’s research is directed at the use of metals in nanoscale technology and in nanomaterials in general. Oxidation and other surface phenomena become an important issue at the nanoscale. One solution to these problems  is to use noble elements such as gold or silver for nanodevices that need to be metallic, and in this way control the surface properties. In addition, the use of these elements opens up the possibility of exploiting novel optical functionalities, in particular plasmon resonances, and the study of these resonances is a second important theme in Mike’s research. A recent paper, for example, shows how 'dark mode' plasmon resonances can be excited using a specially tuned nano-antenna.  Overall, the work is aimed at the synthesis and/or fabrication of various nanoscale devices, and their eventual exploitation for various technological purposes. One use might be in spectrally selective coatings for energy efficiency, another is in the design of nanoporous sponges for sensor applications.